Cabinet Member for Communities and Wellbeing
Decision:
It was RESOLVED: -
1.1 Agree the 5 Point Plan attached at Appendix One.
1.2 Delegate to the Assistant Director for Communities & Wellbeing in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities to keep this Plan under review and to update this in response to emerging need.
REASON FOR DECISION
Provides assurance and confidence, ensuring that well established systems intra-connect to respond to the emerging needs of people through effective co-ordination and service delivery. The plan includes a range of measures that focus on providing advice and support, maintaining people’s good health, building on the investments the Council has already made since the launch of the respective Communities and Wellbeing strategies and bringing forward an initial suite of interventions that will help improve the system long term, including the appointment of a Cost-of-Living Co-ordinator.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:
2.1 To rely on just Government support and co-ordinate that activity and hope people can find their own solutions.
2.2 To pull together a bespoke plan that will provide residents and our workforce with assurance and confidence that they are not alone and that the District Council will utilise all levers available to connect systems to support people with advice and support on the cost of living issues. Alongside this, recognising that key to any recovery related to the emerging crisis is to maintain wellbeing under the principles of prevention, empowerment, self-enablement and activities that build community resilience, so that people at a locality level can support each other too.
Any Declarations of Interests Declared: None
Any Dispensation Granted: None
Minutes:
8.1 The Chair, Councillor Ward invited the Cabinet Member for Communities Councillor McLaren to introduce the report.
8.2 Councillor McLaren provided an overview of the report and proposed the recommendations, as detailed in the report.
8.3 Councillor McCraw seconded the recommendations.
8.4 The Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Osborne welcomed the report but asked that assurance was given that there would be no duplication of work, and that reports on monitoring progress would be brought to Cabinet on a regular basis.
8.5 The Cabinet Member for Communities assured Members that duplications would not occur and that quarterly reports would be presented to Cabinet.
8.6 Councillor Ward informed Cabinet that the East Public Sector Leaders Group had provided £1m funding for Suffolk Advice and Support Services, Local Welfare Support service and Food Banks.
8.7 Councillor Busby referenced food banks and enquired if the Council had a list of food banks published on its website.
8.8 The Corporate Manager – Communities detailed how work was being undertaken to support food banks across the District and the conversations being undertaken between officers and food bank providers.
8.9 Councillor Gould queried how the Council would be monitoring progress measures for food banks, many of which were operating on a grass root basis. She also asked that information about allotments were made available on the Council’s website.
8.10 Councillor McLaren responded that the action plan and the report was the first stage of this Action Plan, and the next stage would be to set out how to monitor progress.
8.11 Councillor Ward stated that the Action Plan was very comprehensive with regards to alleviating the cost of living crisis both in the short and long term.
8.12 Councillor McCraw declared that the action plan built on existing programmes and projects already in place. The Local Citizens Advice (LCA) in Sudbury and Ipswich coordinated local food banks. He continued that the additional officer to support work between the Council and the LCA was funded by the levelling up grants from Central Government.
8.13 A question from other members attending the meeting regarding any assistance the Council could provide in relation to food banks to any new groups starting up was to be responded to outside of the meeting by the Cabinet Member.
It was RESOLVED: -
1.1 Agree the 5 Point Plan attached at Appendix One.
1.2 Delegate to the Assistant Director for Communities & Wellbeing in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities to keep this Plan under review and to update this in response to emerging need.
REASON FOR DECISION
Provides assurance and confidence, ensuring that well established systems intra-connect to respond to the emerging needs of people through effective co-ordination and service delivery. The plan includes a range of measures that focus on providing advice and support, maintaining people’s good health, building on the investments the Council has already made since the launch of the respective Communities and Wellbeing strategies and bringing forward an initial suite of interventions that will help improve the system long term, including the appointment of a Cost-of-Living Co-ordinator.
Supporting documents: